US Patent 7704489 - Photocatalytic nanotagging

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7704489.html

Quantum dot conjugates have been used in biological tagging but the size of the conjugates have been larger than many proteins which interferes with biochemical processes. This patent from Sandia teaches a smaller nanotagging structure using metal nanoparticles and photocatalytic molecules. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanotagged structure comprising:

a chemical structure comprising an associated photocatalyst molecule; and

a metal nanotag proximate to the associated photocatalyst molecule and located within an electron-transfer length of a radical form of the associated photocatalyst molecule.